


disaster averted

by thisisstateofgrace



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:15:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisstateofgrace/pseuds/thisisstateofgrace
Summary: were they even ready? is anyone ever really ready for something like this?
Relationships: Robin Scherbatsky/Barney Stinson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is an AU in which robin and barney get together after 'disaster averted'.

the day started off very normal. robin woke up first, as usual. she woke her boyfriend up before getting out of bed, took a shower, put on a pretty business-woman outfit, made some coffee and headed to work. again, the usual. there was nothing indicating her that that day would be anything other than ordinary.

she was working as an anchor at WWN at the time. truth be told, for the first time in a very long time, she adored her job. WWN was a big and important network, which meant she actually got to tell relevant news. more than that, she’d worked there as a researcher before so people at the station trusted and listened to her inputs. 

of course no job is perfect, of course she’d still complain about it. well, most times, she’d complain about sandy, her co-anchor. the guy was the worst, truly. sloppy, unprofessional, incompetent, creepy, just, the worst. she had no idea how the man could be working in that position. it’s true, barney would receive her almost every night at home with “so what did sandy do today?”, but all in all, robin felt lucky in her professional life.

but then again, she felt lucky in her personal life too. really, really, really lucky. when robin and barney got back together, she was a little anxious about it. well, to her, the whole thing just felt right. the doubts didn’t come from her, it came from her friends. she loved them but they never seemed take her relationship with barney seriously. 

so, sure, at first, she let those adjacent insecurities (as barney would call it) get to her. she feared past would repeat itself, she feared all those feelings in her stomach would end up being wrong and she’d get hurt or hurt him. but the craziest thing happened: time went on and things only ever got better. eventually, she realized, her friends didn’t know shit.

as the months went by, they grew more solid and confident on their relationship. they knew now they could make their own rules and live by them, so that’s exactly what they did. and she loved that so much. she loved that they had their own little inside jokes and on-going contests. she loved that they had a special routine for not falling into routines that maybe to lily sounded insane, but to her, it was perfect. she loved that they also chose to be domestic when they wanted to and with that she’d found out barney actually likes cooking (and he’s getting pretty good at it!).

robin felt really proud of the trust they’d built on telling each other things. she understood barney would tell her stuff on his own time, when he wanted and/or needed to, because she could relate to that. she needed to keep somethings to herself and so did he and they were okay with that. robin loved that she could be herself but more than that, she loved that barney was entirely himself too.

and that was the thing, in the realest way she’d ever felt it before, she loved him. robin got to see up close his brilliantly creative mind and charisma. she could never get enough of his exciting and sometimes crazy ideas, his ambition and motivation. she loved his humor, even the grossest most sociopathic parts of it and how much he cared for the people he loved. the more he’d let her see of him, the more she fell in love with him.

and just like any job, no relationship is perfect. of course they had fights. they were both self-centered competitive independent stubborn people, sure enough they had their problems. and it wasn’t easy, either, there were times when it felt overwhelming, there were times when it got too loud. but because they had seen where the road of not talking had taken them before, they softened their edges a tiny bit and with time, it became easier. as cheesy as that sounds, robin has to admit that even that became something she grew to love: seeing the progress of their relationship. 

so, when they decided to move in together, 2 months earlier, robin gave no second thought to the surprised faces they got as they delivered the news at the bar. their friends only got to see the jokes, barney oversharing about sex stuff, the teasing and bickering and flirting, robin’s rants to lily when they were fighting. that’s okay, no one other than her and barney could understand and it was more than enough.

a year went by and they almost didn’t feel it. so yeah, robin felt lucky.

robin arrived for work, sat on her desk and started reading the papers from that day’s report. ordinary. until she was called to her boss’ office. and then everything changed.

“we’ve been very impressed with your work in the past months” “thank you” “and we know you have had an interest in the foreign reporter position for a while now. maybe you didn’t know that yet but a spot has opened. what do you say?”


	2. Chapter 2

robin’s boss told her she had one day to decide or they’d look for someone else. she left his office feeling like the floor was gone. _this isn’t happening what the fuck_ she got back to her desk and stared at the computer screen _this is all i ever wanted for years!!! why now? why NOW this is so unfair._ her boss was very clear, the job demanded that she was able to travel to wherever and whenever and she’d start in a week.

first, robin thought about barney. sure, that didn’t mean they’d necessarily have to break up but wouldn’t that suck? wouldn’t it suck to ask of him to go through this for her? being in a long distance relationship for an indefinite period of time was cruel, were they even ready? was anyone ever really ready for that? shit shit shit shit

but then, that was her _dream job_ ever when she arrived new york city, all those years ago. it was what she told everybody “i wanna report important news and travel the world”. it’s true, that sounded lovely. she couldn’t give up her dream for a man. for a comfortable life in new york. for reliable good friends. that wasn’t robin scherbatsky, the adventurous woman everybody knew her as. shit shit shit shit

she went to the roof and called barney. it was around his lunch time, so she thought he'd have time talk.

“so you heard the news, right?” he picked up and started right away

“wh-”

“the new drink at maclarens? ted was there last night. robin, have you seen what’s in it? it’s so you, i think you’re gonna love it.”

she laughed at his enthusiasm “i haven’t, no”

“what do you say, meet me there at like 6-ish tonight?”

“i don’t know, barney, that’s actually why i’m calling”

“something’s wrong?”

“are you in your lunch time?”

“yeah, hold on” she heard the sound of him exiting a room, maybe a restaurant, then the noise of new york streets. “go”

“okay, first, i just received the news, i haven’t decided on absolutely anything.” she paused for a while, collecting words. “they offered me a job as foreign reporter, starting next week”

it was probably one second but robin felt like it took him 3 minutes to say “that’s- fantastic! congrat-”

“i didn’t say yes” her voice was very tense.

“relax, okay? we’re gonna figure this thing out.” he said but she knew his panic voice too damn well. she appreciated his effort, though. “i’ll get home early tonight then we’ll talk. just don’t freak out”

“you’re one to talk”

“shut up, i’m _super_ chill. so, when do you have to give them an answer?”

“tomorro-”

“TOMORROW?” he yelled. “no, no, everything is fine. i’m okay, shut up”

she chuckled “well, i guess you’re right, let’s just talk about it tonight, right?”

“absolutely i’m right”

“and how’s work?”

“same old same old. so after we figure everything out tonight you wanna try that drink?”

“you’re insane” she laughed “i gotta go, patrice just texted me something. love you” she hung up and headed downstairs to whatever patrice was asking her for. 

barney stood frozen in the middle of the sidewalk after she hung up. _don’t freak out don’t freak out it’s fine_ some dude bumped into him “move, idiot!”. he got back inside the restaurant and finished his lunch without talking too much, just nodding along to whatever his coworkers were saying.

he saw it like this: there are three possible outcomes to this 1 she takes the job, goes traveling every week, they manage and everything turns out fine 2 she takes the job, goes traveling, they don’t manage and everything is ruined forever 3 she doesn’t take the job and everything is the same, which is perfect. _i’m gonna ask her to stay_. _sure, i’m just gonna ask her to stay! she likes her job as it is now, we’re good, things are good, nothing has to change._

barney got back to the office and tried to distract himself as much as he could but obviously he failed miserably at that. he knew robin had been wanting that job for a long time. and if he loved her so much, how could he possibly ask her to stay? barney imagined robin getting to visit all these amazing places and living these cool adventures and dismissed the idea of asking her such thing.

but of course, it didn’t take him long to start imagining the bad stuff. he imagined not properly talking to her for a week, not seeing her, not sleeping in the same bed as her and- _woah, am i a clingy boyfriend?_ he centered himself, took a deep breath _in a few hours, we’ll talk. i don’t even know what she's thinking. chill._

and so he tried. but...

_WHAT IF SHE DOESN’T EVEN WANNA TRY AND JUST BREAKS UP WITH ME TONIGHT? holy fuck_

that’s basically how his day went. by 4:30 he was sitting in their couch, waiting for her. twelve minutes earlier, robin had texted him that she’d be there in ten.

“ask me to deny it” she said, as soon as she opened the door.

“what? no” barney stood up

“make this decision for me, i can't” robin’s shoulders fell. she walked out and sat on the couch, after a few moments just standing there, he joined her.

“this is something i have wanted for years” she started “god, this sucks! i’m happy. i like the job i have now, i love new york,” she looked up at barney, who was staring at her with those very expressive eyes, “i love you. but i feel guilty. i feel like i’m giving up on a dream, you know? like i’m letting 2005 robin down”

robin took a few deep breaths. barney was trying to come up with an answer but he had no idea what to even think. then robin started talking again.

“i don’t wanna let her down. but how can i ask something like that of you, barney?”

it was particularly strange for robin to talk about this because she felt like she needed to think like 2005 robin and 2012 robin at the same time but they were both so wildly different. old robin wouldn’t have to think about this, for starters. but maybe that’s because old robin couldn’t possibly understand how new robin felt. old robin didn’t believe in anything, it was almost easy for her to be so decisive and brave, she didn’t have much to risk.

then she had to think about a time when she was forced to apologize to old robin. the time she gave up that job for don. robin had never felt so immensely stupid in all her life, she’d bowed down to old robin and promised never to do anything like that again. but there she was.

“you’re just crazy if you think you’d have to ask anything of me” barney interrupted her thoughts.

while she was going insane thinking about past selves, well, barney was doing the same. he lost himself in thought on everything that had changed in his life in the past years. most of all, barney thought of old barney and his fear of relationships. he realized he didn’t wanna be neither the old barney that slept around and wouldn’t commit nor the old barney that let robin get away a hundred times until he almost had no chances left. and a third barney that he’d never been and never intended to be was a barney that would ask robin to give up her dream job. when it came down to it, it was simple.

“huh?”

“i’m saying if you decide to take this job, my decision would be to stay and make this work. and it’s mine to make.”

“i think you don’t know what you’re saying”

“i think i do. and i think if this is your dream, you should take it”

“you’re freaking me out” robin was getting agitated, she stood up.

“you want the job?” barney stood up too to face her.

“do you realize what it means? it means i’d have to leave new york like every two weeks or something. think about that”

“i have! it was all i could think about today. yeah, i’m scared but, damn it, do you expect me to stand in your way? isn’t traveling the world something you want?”

“yes” robin let out a long sigh.

“then do it. i’ll be here waiting for you, and i’m sure i could work less some months to go with you.”

“see, but that’s the thing. what if it gets too hard and you resent me for making those decisions?”

“why don’t you understand i’m serious about this?” barney said a little too loud, a little too angry.

“because- because i know you think you love me enough now but-”

“i don’t _just_ -” barney stopped, he looked mad. “robin, i love everything about you. i’m not a guy who says that lightly. i thought love was something idiots thought they felt but you- you have a hold on my heart that i could not break if i wanted to. and there have been times that i wanted to. it’s been overwhelming and humbling, and even painful at times, but i couldn’t stop loving you anymore that i could stop breathing. i love you more than you know, more than i can bare. so please, let me.”

there was no possible answer to that and robin knew it. barney stood there looking at her, vulnerable, after pouring his heart out. he opened his mouth and robin knew it was to follow up with something gross because that's barney, but as much as she wanted to hear it, she jumped on him. robin pulled him close and kissed him hard, as to say she loves him too, which he quickly caught up on.

he pulled apart for a second "so that's a yes", barney said a little out of breath.

"yeah" she kissed his neck "yeah! i'm gonna be a foreign reporter!" she kissed his lips.

he smiled into it "fuck yeah you are, scherbatsky. now how about we start making up for all the sex we're gonna miss when you're not here?"

she tilted her head laughing as he pushed them both to the couch "i guess we better get started"


	3. Chapter 3

the rest of that night felt like a dream. they decided to head to the bar to try the new drink robin would supposedly love (she did). “just do me a favor, let’s not tell the guys yet, alright? wanna wait for it to be official” she asked in the cab. 

“totally”

everybody was already there when they arrived. robin sat on the booth with ted while barney sat on his chair and kept his hand on robin’s thigh. the conversation went on like any other night: a weird case in marshall’s office, ted’s most recent date that went terribly, which let to good stories and even better jokes. the gang stayed up until 1am talking about whatever, barney and robin exchanging looks the entire night. 

on the ride back home, robin rested her head on barney’s shoulders “so... do you have like a list?” he spoke softly.

“of what?”

“of places you hope to visit”

she sat down to face him “i never wrote it down, but yeah”

barney grinned at that “yeah?”

“yeah like, ireland. i’d love to visit ireland”

“why?”

then she told him she wanted to drink beer in a traditional irish pub in ireland and he thought it was a funny reason. but then robin continued telling him of all the other places in her list, to which he contributed suggesting tourists points or foods she had to try or other places he thought she should add to her list. they got out of the cab, into their apartment, into their pijamas, into bed and fell asleep still talking about it. 

morning rolled around but this time robin woke up knowing the day would be a big one. she dressed up for an important day and made coffee while barney prepared some pancakes (”i saw this recipe on tv the other day” he said). but then she got late and had to leave in a rush “go get your dream job, woman!”, he kissed her on her way out.

everything was perfect. well, not perfect. she was scared still. barney’s sweet little speech the night before had shaken her anxiety but obviously not all of it. there was still the possibility of things going south for them and she knew that, although it was nice knowing they’d be fighting this thing together. 

but _oh my god! this is all i ever wanted, it’s happening_ she arrived at the station.

barney’s day was nothing too special, on the other hand. he actually had a big meeting he’d been preparing for a week later that afternoon but truly, nothing compared to his girlfriend. after heading to lunch he sent her a text “so?” and when he got back he stayed pretty busy almost until it was time to leave. the day flew by too quickly, which he was glad. it was a confusing feeling how happy he felt for robin in conjunction with a heavy weight on his chest and _i hope we manage_ over and over in his head. on his way home, he checked his phone to see she never answered him.

so barney got home. as soon as he opened the door, he saw robin on her knees and his eyes went so big they could fall off.

“YOU CAN’T” he yelled “robin, it’s me- _i’m_ the one who s- damn it, you know you can’t do it!” barney was gesturing every word dramatically.

“shut up, you idiot, let me speak” she waved her hands.

“listen, if _you_ propose to _me_ i’m gonna say yes but then it won’t matter because i’m going to kill you” 

“SHUT UP!”

“my god” he took a deep breath.

“barney stinson, will you check off a bunch of places on a list with me?”

his expression went from confused to interested to confused again “what?”

“okay, well, i didn’t take the job”

“you’re kidding”

“i can explain, it’s- i realized being a foreign reporter is not my dream job anymore”

“what do you mean?”

“i wanna report news. like, relevant news. i wanna be on tv. that’s all true, but i used to say i wanted to be a foreign reporter because i wanted to travel the world and, at the time, work was my entire life, i had no other reason to do it. and you know work is still very important to me, it is. but the thought of going to these places for work just sounds lonely to me now” robin turned around and walked to the kitchen to grab two beers. “i guess, my old self was too different. yesterday i was afraid to admit this but it’s true, i have changed and some of my dreams changed with me.” she handed him his bottle and took a sip.

“i was so sure you wanted this” barney said, taking a sip of his beer too. he was still in shock.

“i understood, then: i want to travel but not as part of my job. i like the job i have now. and you know what? it gives me good money, and i’m young and also baby-free” robin took another sip of her beer. “so as i was sitting in my boss’ office today, i couldn’t stop thinking about us in the cab last night, discussing my list. i think- i think i wouldn’t enjoy exploring the world if it wasn’t with you”

it took her courage to confess such things to herself and she felt proud to embrace those changes, as scary as they seemed and as vulnerable as they made her. 

barney beamed, placing his arm around her waist and bringing her closer “so you decided to do this cheesy ass proposal to me”

“yeah, by the way, what’s that thing you mentioned about you saying yes?” robin teased and pulled in his tie.

his face got closer and closer to hers and then he said in a serious tone “you know i’m all about an spectacle. you know when _i_ do it, it’s not gonna be an improvised performance like yours. it’s gonna blow your mind so hard, you’ll never see it coming, scherbatsky”

“bring it” 

then he kissed her. “so, can we go to a traditional irish pub in ireland this weekend or what?” barney said when he pulled apart.


End file.
